The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1887-01-13
Folklore.

verbal sayings, superstitions and customs Of
the people has grown to be an important
branch of literary work. Able men have
cleaned in this field with thoroughness
which seems to have left little to invite or re-
ward others who may follow them, especially
novices like myself. 1t has been without any
thought of making discoveries or adding any
thing to the literature of this subject that
have, for a year or two past, made point of
jotting down when they came TO my notice the
superstitiOns once, and, to a certain extent,
now current in this section. NV collection now
numbers several hundred of these peculiar no.
tions, and / have no doubt might be extended
to an almost endless length. Perhaps its publi-
cation in your columns may serve to interest
some of your readers. have not the means
at hand to trace these superstitiOns to their
origin except as l occasionally find it given in
a little volume l have before me entitled "Do-
nestle Folklore" written by an Englishman,
Rev. 7. +. T. Dyer, and limited to the con-
sidcration of the superstitious beliefs and PEE
cuiar customs now, or at one time prevalent in
the British Isles. 1t used to be fancy of mine
that most of the popular "whims' existing in
this vicinity were coined by some weazened
fortune-teer of my grandfather's day, with
perhaps an occasional addition to the list by
the medicine man of some tribe of native In
dams. The great faith our grand parents had
in signs and omens would seem to strengthen
this idea. was sorry when learned that my
fancy was but fancy.-that there was in New
England but little of that variety of folklore
termed ''proverbial sayings" and supersttions
which we might call our own. The great bulk
of our folklore seems to have fallen to us by
way of England. There is morsel of COM
fort, however. in the fact that England does
not appear to lie very much better off in the
matter of proprctorship than ourselves. Very
many of the superstitons which we have in
herited from her are traceable to the oldest
countries of the world and back to the early
days of the human race.
1t is hardly necessary for me to say that be-
lief in the things that smack of the supernatur-
al is rapidly on the decline. Even our grand
parents seem to have had faith in such things
which may excite our wonder when we con-
slider that life to the most of them was hand
to-hand conflict with the bread and butter
phase of existence in what we are wont to re-
gard as i most matter-Of-fact period, and that
they have left behind them abundant evidence.
in deeds if not in descendants that they We're
sensible people. In arranging for your col
umns the matter have collected on this sub
jcct shall, for convenience, mostly follow the
plan adopted by Mr.. Dyer, and may OCCASION
ally quote from his work. First let us con-
slider the
FOLKLORE OF BIRTH AND INFANCY.
Perhaps one of the first things our grand
parents did when a child was born was to get
down the old family Bible and turn to the
verse in the last chapter of Proverbs corre-
spending to the day of the month on which the
birth occurred for forecast of its destiny.
The day of the week on which child is
born is believed by some to have something to
do W 18th shaping its future. The following is a
rhyme which is often heard here with varia-
tons, and which, according to Mr.. Dyer, is
still current i'm Cornwall:
''Sunday's child is full of grace.
Mondays child is fair in the face.
Tuesdays child is solemn and sad.
Wednesdays child is merry and glad,
Fridays child is free in giving,
Saturdays child works hard for iving.''
have heard it said that ''Frday's child will
never want = also that child born on Friday
would be unlucky, an apparent contliction of
auguries which must have been very disturb
ing to believers. 1t is generally considered
| lucky to have been born on Sunday. The
| month in which Il child is born is supposed to
have an influence on its future. \ child born
| in March is said to he destined to live stormy
| if'. The belief that a child born on the first
| day of April will be of weak intellect seems to
be quite common among those inclined to be
super>titions. This foolish notion has doubt
less rendered many persons who We're born on
| that day sensitive on the subject of birthdays
| Some ascribe to each month of the year an in
| tluence of its own in shaping the lives of its
children, but the two above are the most
| popular instances. The sex of the tirst-born is
supposed by some to have an important bear
| ing on the fortunes of its parents.
''First daughter and then a son,
And the world is well begun;
First son and then a daughter,
Trouble and sorrow will follow after"
levers in the old superstition that 'the seventh
son of a seventh son" will possess remarkable
| healing powers, if we may judge from the fire.
quency with which we meet with the flaming
| advertisements of these Seventh sons" The
notion that child with blue vein across its
nose will not live long has had its believers
| hereabouts. A baby born with open hands
| will be free-hearted, it is said. If born with
| its hands closed it will be stingy. There is a
saying that baby which keeps its hands
| closed will be of weak intellect. There is an
other that if you tickle the feet of an infant
| you will make it foolish To rock the baby's
| empty cradle is an omen of its ,leath-a belief
which prevails in Scotland and many parts of
continental Europe as well as here. In Swe,!-
EN- it is believed to make the child ''noisy and
given to crying" Again, we often near the
| remark
| ''Rocl the cradle empty,
And you shall have babies plenty"
! 1t is said to bring l-luck to a child to weigh
| it-a proceeding most babies have to suffer the
consequences of. Some old ladies profess to
believe that baby and kitten cannot thrive
| Ill LHe sdile uouSe. IHeTc are many VINO be-
lieve that cat will ''suck the BREATH of a
child-a belief which is said to be without a
particle of foundation in fact.
| Some maintain that the cast teeth Of children
should never be thrown away if they are, and
an animal finds them. the new teeth will be
similar to those of the animal which has bitten
| the Old ones. 1t is quite common saying that
| a baby's finger nails should not be cut until il
| is a year old, and then they should be bitten
off, otherwise the child will be thief 1t is
supposed it will bring child i-luck to cut its
nails on Sunday,
| ''Better child had ne'er been born,
Than cut its nails on a Sunday morn,"
is the way the old saying runs. This super.
stition is current in Germany where it is be-
lieved that if it is not needed the child will be
| liable to stammer as it grows up. There is a
superstition that if child is allowed to look in
mirror before it is year old it will die. There
are still believers in the notion that among the
| certanties which await an infant is the expert
ence of falling out of bed three times, no mat
ter how closely it may be watched. There is
an old and still popular notion that an infant
will always cry for the moon when it sees it.
The following are few superstitions con
'nected with birth and infancy mentioned by
Mr.. Dyer which l think must have gained 4
foothold on this side of the water, though
| am not able to discover that they have eyel
been current hereabouts.
The faculty of seeing much that Is hilder
from others is said to be granted to children
born at the "chime hours" !. e., the hours OF
three. six, nine, or twelve "a superstition
found in many parts of Europe. There is al
idea prevalent in England and Germany thai
l 4 T.. l1.. s. = -4l